Are you dreading the arrival of tax season again? Let’s be real…we are facing another year of a tax cycle that really has never ended. Given the pandemic, PPP, and all of the tax changes in recent years, it’s been a grind. This is why it’s so important to set yourself up for success–and your […]
Resource Category: Blogs & Articles
Fully leveraging digital loan processing efficiency starts with streamlined, secure data collection
One of the persistent pain points for many credit unions and their members is the need to collect, organize, share, and secure a significant amount of sensitive data to price, originate, and maintain a loan relationship. If your credit union has not yet advanced to a digital loan workflow, the pain of data collection to […]
The Many Hats of a Small Business Owner
The amount of roles that a small business owner plays can be extremely overwhelming when they don’t have a large staff to support them. However, with the right tech stack, a small business owner can help their business thrive and save time for themselves at the end of the day. The Many Hats of a […]
5 Time-Saving Tune Ups for Your Firm’s Pre-Tax Season Playbook
By Dawn Brolin As a very happy and productive SmartVault user for more than a decade, I know that tax season after tax season, SmartVault is always ready to play hard during the busiest season of my practice. SmartVault remains one of the core solutions in my tax season Starting Lineup, not only because of […]
Effective eNote technology implementation
The new year is on the horizon–and with it comes an even greater call for credit unions to adopt e-closing technology to keep pace with member demand for the convenience and security that it provides as well as to leverage the operational benefits. For context, credit union lenders should be familiar with the two key […]
Make SmartVault Your MVP This Tax Season
Chances are, if your firm has a significant portfolio of tax clients, document management is of significant concern to you. I know from my own experience in my firm that unless you have document management truly dialed in before tax season, you are going to strike out during the heat of it. You may actually […]
Learn the 4 Keys to Using eNote Technology to Optimize Your Credit Union’s Loan Processing Experience
Over the past several years the heavy burden of paper loan closing documents has gradually become lighter, thanks to the emergence of electronic closing technologies. This is welcome news for many lenders, buyers, sellers, and third-party agents involved in the process of facilitating car, home, and business mortgage loans—not to mention other transactions where the […]
Tech Stack that Bulletproofs Your Business Continuity Plan
Having the right technologies in place to keep your business up and running no matter what happens is essential to any plan for business continuity. Cloud-based software that you can access from any location, at any time, are no longer a “nice to have.” They are absolutely essential operational assets for any type of business. […]
Revisit Your Client Relationships to Improve Your Tax Season
As an accountant in practice, you will more than likely be familiar with the amount of work and pressure accountants are under during tax season. The sheer volume of work, emails, checklists, and documents can be overwhelming. Although returns can be filed any time after the deadline, you will probably find that 90% of returns […]
Why access rights management is key to implementing an effective CU cybersecurity strategy
According to global business research firm IGI Global, Access Rights Management (ARM) is: “The process of assigning digital rights to users which can then be used in conjunction with an access control system (ACS) to obtain access to some resource.” In the case of credit unions, one of the most important resources is the documents […]
5 Ways to Build a Strong and Committed Team
One of the most efficient ways to navigate through Tax Season is by hiring a seasonal team to help keep things running smoothly. Unfortunately, hiring good team members is no easy feat, and retaining them is even harder. With Tax Season around the corner, it’s time to start searching for those team members and start […]
How to Spot Burnout and Mitigate It
Tax season is stressful and oftentimes can lead to employee burnout. Staff members who start to feel this way are likely to quit, and oftentimes they don’t wait for the end of tax season to do so. According to a survey by Gallup, a global analytics firm, the top 5 causes of burnout are: Unfair […]
5 Key Credit Union Technology Trends
The past two years have seen a pandemic-fueled acceleration of digital transformation across many industries. In the financial services sector these shifts in technology adoption have been necessary in order for service providers to keep operating while also remaining in compliance with regulatory requirements. The result has been “forced” technology adoption at a rapid pace, […]
Understanding Ransomware
As employees embrace a new, flexible way of working, cyber security concerns continue to rise across the globe. Since the start of COVID-19, the FBI reported a 300% increase in cyber crime. According to the UK government 46% of businesses have faced a cyber breach in the last 12 months. It’s never been more important […]
How to standardize your credit union’s operations for scalable growth
For an established credit union, you know it’s challenging to go from status-quo to scale-up. As much as you want to set aside time to be more strategic and productive, emails keep coming into your inbox, and piles of documents keep stacking up on your desk. Before you know it, you’re back to doing things […]
Evaluating the implementation of a DMS for your credit union?
For credit unions evaluating the implementation of a document management system (DMS), one of the key considerations is the return on investment of making the decision. As with any technology investment, a DMS must provide greater value than its cost in order to be an asset for your institution. But how can you make the […]
How to deliver $30K in ROI from a Best-of-Breed Tech Stack
There’s nothing that can power up the profitability and overall performance of your practice like the ability to scale. Once you have a repeatable system in place, you’ll be able to easily scale your practice and bring in more team members which takes the burden off you. If you really want to skyrocket your ability […]
The Ultimate Best-of-Breed Tech Stack for a Thriving Accounting Firm
When it comes to adopting technologies, my #1 goal is to make sure they contribute to my revenue and profits. Each solution I incorporate into my tech stack serves a specific purpose and solves a particular workflow pain point. It adds dollars back to my bottom line. At my accounting firm, we handle lots of […]
ROI Reality Check: Are You Maximizing the Revenue Potential of Your Firm’s Tech Stack?
Can you believe that thousands of years ago, Socrates uttered the perfect phrase we should all use when evaluating your tech stack? It is: “You don’t know what you don’t know.” It’s true—with so many tech applications available, knowing whether you have the right ones is tough. And it’s even tougher to know if they’re […]
7 Steps to Build the A-Team for Your Next Tax Season
Your firm is only as strong as your weakest staff link. Now that your team can finally catch a break from the thick of the tax season, you should use this time to reflect the good and the bad from the past few months and take notes for a better season next year. In case […]